


And The Innocence Of Youth

by LissaWho5



Series: Time To Say Goodbye [2]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Abby is a good Aunt, And Abby, Angst, Angst little comfort, But its mostly angst, Cecils secret, Esteban is a sweet heart, F/M, M/M, Multi, Spoilers for 166, Theres some cute things in here, This is about him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23914459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LissaWho5/pseuds/LissaWho5
Summary: It's hard being a kid in Night Vale. Especially when things can change so quickly.
Relationships: Carlos/Cecil Palmer, Esteban & Abby Palmer, Steve Carlsberg/Abby Palmer
Series: Time To Say Goodbye [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723744
Kudos: 18





	And The Innocence Of Youth

Esteban sat on the floor in one of the “safe areas” of his papa’s old lab. His Aunt Abby had marked out “safe areas” where Esteban could be as there weren’t as many sharp and pointy things. 

His aunt was currently doing something with the small radio that his papa gave her before he had to say goodbye to him. His cousin Roger was sitting close by, just staring out into space. His family dog, Auby, was napping next to Esteban, and even in his sleep, he looked like he could get up at any moment to defend Esteban. 

On his way to the lab, where he was being good, quiet, and brave, just like his family needed, his Aunt spotted Roger. Running and hiding from...something. After checking quickly to make sure he wasn’t with that  _ very mean and rude pilot, who hurt his daddy and Uncles,  _ she led Roger to the lab. Aubergine also somehow found his way there and had happily come along. 

Roger was quiet. Esteban knew that Roger was quiet in general, but now he was silent. Hardly any noise came from him, only making noise when he helped Aunt Abby as he’s a teenager and could lift heavy things and do other things Esteban was too small too.

Granted they were all quiet. Aunt Abby never really said anything, besides asking Esteban or Roger the occasional question, or telling him to help. Aubergine was also quiet, only giving out the occasional bark. But Auby was like Roger since both were usually quiet. (His Papa had even commented on that once since it was unusual for a dog to be so quiet). 

Even Esteban himself was acting pretty quiet. He was talkative, “ _ Like me and your papa! _ ” his dad would always say with a smile, but he didn’t want to talk right now. He felt sick, but not like when he had a cold or when he got a boo-boo like when he fell down while playing in his back yard. He felt sick like he had...a general bad feeling all over his chest. Like he couldn’t cry but he also wanted to cry forever or for the next five years (whichever one was longer. Esteban didn’t really know.)

Esteban’s days, for the most part, were just sitting in the old lab. Playing with his giraffe, Rafty, and keeping his Papa’s lab coat around him constantly, like a safety blanket. 

This time while he held it, he finally found something in the pocket of the coat. Curiously, he took it out. 

It was the pocket watch he saw his Papa tinkering with once. When he asked what it was, his Papa explained that it was a watch that never worked. That it hadn’t worked in a year. This got Esteban’s interest so his Papa let him watch him work on it until Esteban inevitably grew bored and then left to toddle himself into another room to explore things. Or to go on an “adventure” with Aubergine. Whatever seemed more fun! 

He tried to open up the watch to see the clock part, but that required dexterity and strength that he didn’t have. He moved over to Roger. 

“Roger?” he asked, handing him the watch. Roger looked at him blankly, glancing down to the watch. “Can you open this up for me. I can’t even though I tried.”

Roger just gave him a small nod then easily opened it. He handed it back to Esteban and then turned around to go back into his head. Estaban thanked him and carefully walked back over to Auby careful not to accidentally close the watch. 

He sat down and looked at the watch. Only the second hand moved. And there was a ticking sound to it, but it was faint. It’s almost as if the clock was whispering, giving a message to anyone who would strain to hear it. Esteban watched the seconds hand for a few seconds and then he noticed a photo. He stared at the photo and saw his family. 

Well some of his family, it was Papa and Daddy. They were smiling, wearing matching purple and green outfits. Esteban was there too, but he was just a baby in the photo. He had on the same colors as his dads.

Suddenly Esteban burst into tears. All the emotions he felt swelled up inside of him and came out in an ocean of tears. He didn’t realize that he would feel like this. He just missed his dads so much! It wasn’t fair! He just wanted his dads to hold him and tell him that they love him like they always do. He wanted Daddy to sing to him and for Papa to tell him cool facts about science and for them to be able to be together!

He only realized that he was wheezing when Aubergine came over to lick his face of tears. Esteban stopped sobbing suddenly, being startled by the sensation. Now the tears came down slowly as he cried more gently. He looked up and saw his Aunt standing right beside him. She said nothing, just gave him a sad smile. 

Esteban didn’t know this, but growing up and Night Vale had caused Abby to grow accustomed to these things. Yes her heart hurt but she was used to these things. Disasters constantly happened here. 

But she knew it wasn’t the disaster that upset Esteban, it was the lack of constants, it was the lack of parents. Esteban couldn’t understand that there were people out there, who would kill him on sight, that one of those people was his dad. But he understood that his dads weren’t there for him when he was scared and as pessimistic as it sounds, she knew he would get used to it with time. 

But she understood his pain. He reminded her of Cecil when their mother..left them. Cecil was much older than Esteban but still young in the universe and he didn’t know how to handle their mom leaving.  _ She  _ didn’t really know how to handle it, causing resentment to grow between the two for a long time.

But they adjusted. And Janice would have too. So would Roger, and sadly Esteban would too, all in due time. 

For now, she just held her nephew as he cried. His tears were still soft. She glanced at the pocket watch, and she understood. Well, as much as an outsider or an adult can understand a child’s mind. She comforted him as he drifted off to sleep, the last tears slipped out and traced over the dried tears that went down his face. She kissed his forehead as she put him on a blanket and put his few belongings next to him and cracked a small, but genuine smile, as he reached out to grab Rafty subconsciously. 

She got up. She had work to do. If she wanted any chance to save her family she had to help her brother in law and daughter. 

For now, she just hoped that her nephew had peace in his dreams. 

**Author's Note:**

> Oof
> 
> I'm excited for the episode this week to hopefully give some comfort- but until then!!!
> 
> In all seriousness I love Esteban and I love writing his POV. I, in general, love writing from a child's perspective. I find it interesting, to say the least! 
> 
> Special thanks to my betas Maggie and Blue, who you can find at @nopenotjoshua and @wtnvsaysfuckcapitalism respectively!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Comments and Kudos are highly appreciated! If you want to talk on Tumblr, you can find me @shaniacnightvaleresident


End file.
